My wife has lost her job, and a generous member in that area has offered to provide me with some tools to find some leads in that area.  From what I can tell, cost of living is a LOT cheaper than in the Chicago area.

So what's the area like? My wife and I are early 30s, no kids. Her background is in image editing and photoshop, she has a Bachelors in Fine arts.  I have an associates in Recreation Therapy but my background has been in call centers since 2012.

Thanks for any input you all can give.

Great town to live in, cost of living is cheaper than Chicago (born and raised in Waukegan, btw), much less stupid laws and taxes, but keep in mind that it also means you have smaller paychecks.  If you can find housing outside of SGF, you'll get a little more house for less money.  I've lived here off and on from 1996, and my wife and I call it home.  Hope to see you soon!

Rev_Jason

What are the surrounding areas? Only place I've been to in MO is STL.

BTW-my wife was VERY surprised we could rent a 3BDR house for less than what we pay for a 1 BDR here in the Chicago western Suburbs(I live in Wheaton currently, if you know where that is.)

Example

My sister did her college undergrad in Nebraska, so I'm used to the "Great plains" accent, and people in NE thought my family talked funny.

I like to bike, and so does my wife, and I started running 5ks, and would love to do hiking, and of course shooting.

Um. What he said. Pretty much nailed it. I was down there last week. It's been well over a decade since I've been. Couldn't believe how much it's changed.

I LOVE it here.  Moved here in '09 from Southeast Missouri, and I haven't looked back.  Gunshops on damn near every corner!  The only thing we really lack is a place to shoot long range.

Air travel isn't bad here, we fly out of Springfield several times a year.  Alegiant has really cheap flights to several vacation destinations.  I'm usually on an American to Dallas when I fly out.  Not overly expensive at all, and MUCH less hassle than the larger airports.

What about jobs, with their work and education backgrounds? Do you think they'd find something there, or maybe fit into the tourist stuff if they went a bit further South near Branson/Table Rock?

With 3 colleges, 2 large hospitals and Bass Pro headquarters alone I think they could find a job there no problem.

I've been working in call centers for the past 5 years, and my wife was an image editor.  I'm highly motivated.

There's a couple big call centers.  I think Chase has one of the biggest here.  Then the ones that advertise on tv all the time, Gold Mountain, and some other one.

Expedia?  Aren't they here?  Call center.

Yep, they are at the old airport terminal.

Economic opportunities are somewhat limited in the Springfield area. I work for a larger employer in the area and I'm very happy there.
However, the number of large employers where you can earn a comfy salary are limited.

If you're not set on Springfield in any fashion I would eye the North Dallas/ Allen Texas area. Several large employers exist in the area and while it costs ~13% more to live there than Springfield employees generally make 15+% more in earnings there. This also provides the benefit of employer diversity, you're not out of luck if you're not interested in the handful of opportunities.

Some local openings that may interest you:
1. Customer Service Rep (call center)
2. Graphic Designer

Lived and/or worked there from 1972 to 2010 less the four years I was in Rolla. What would you like to know?

It is a big one. Go here to search their current openings. Chase is a great company to work for.

What neighborhoods are good/bad.  Thanks!

Op I'm from the suburbs of St. Louis and go to Springfield a fair amount for business and it usually takes a me a day or two to adjust to people being so nice and not all up in my business like they are in St. Louis or Chicago.

I will say though with you having call center background, you really need to look into getting plugged into a call center that is part of the medical or pharmacy provider space.  You will excel in that arena if you are smart AND will pick up HIGHLY sought after industry knowledge that will take you places.

Stay the hell out of north springfield its a shithole. i lived in ozark. rent was about 550 for a nice townhome. Call centers galore my friend. i love springfield. plenty of opportunities for you and the wife.

Anything off of Republic Road will be good to go, or east of Glenstone.  I live on the south side of town and rarely venture north of Sunshine St., couple good restaurants downtown but that's it.

I have lived here in Springfield basically my whole life.  The economy is very diverse.  With your back ground there will be jobs galore both in the medical arena and we have call centers galore. Some focus on selling for Branson just 30 minutes south of us and others are more traditional.  We also have one here that is privately contracted to do political fundraising for republicans... if that's your kinda thing. As others have said, springfield is a major medical hub.  Lots of hospitals and tons of physical therapy and rehab companies. We are a retirement area due to cost of living and Branson.

Very diverse culturally if you are actually out in the city.  Not like St. Louis or New York but still quite diverse.  We have low income people moving in to the north side from areas like Kansas City and St. Louis and tragically bringing some crime with them. Loads of blue collar workers with the industrial economy we have.  We also have young entrepreneurs moving in with the focus on science and tech that the city is trying to establish.  Also have lots of doctors and lawyers and again, tons of old people as this is a retirement area.  

Overall it's often called a big little town. Has most everything big cities have, from zoos to science centers to random muggings while still keeping some of the small town feel if you move into the right areas. Towns like republic, Willard, ozark and nixa are basically heaven on earth for young families and middle income people like myself.  We own a rental home in republic in a decent area and it rents for $900 per month. Typical 3 bed 2 bath 2 car garage with a nice front and back yard.  House is approx 1400 square feet. If you have any other questions, lemme know. Hope it works out for you!

Nathan

I grew up in Strafford, and spent a lot of time in Springfield. I don't really have anything to say that hasn't already been said, but pick a small town outside of Springfield, on the side closest to your job, and you'll have cheaper living and more room.

Springfield is wide, but not dense. You might have to drive 20-30 minutes to get somewhere... but it'll be because of distance, not traffic. Springfield sprawls.

Jobs are funny in Springfield. My experience is it's difficult to find a job there if you don't live there.
Otherwise it's a nice town. Population would fit into a western burb of Chicago.

People are friendly and it has a real small town / city feel to it.

Edited to add, I'd recommend you try to find a job 1st. Maybe set up some interviews and take a short vacation.

There's not a dang thing wrong with the north side of Springfield. I live on the north side. It's lower income to welfare babies and working class folks, but people are still nice tend to be more neighborly once they get to know ya. Especially if you're not in a subdivision. Them south side folks can be overly busy body ish and snooty a lot of the time.

As stated before. Medical, and call centers are big here. Fabrication is also huge. On a per capita basis the stainless steel shops here use more metal than the truly big cities. So if you can weld or are willing to learn, you can make a pretty good living here.

Move on down Deej,Ill take ya shooting anytime.

Moved to the Springfield area back in late '04 from NW Chicago suburbs.  Mindblowing difference in cost of living back then, still pretty significant 12 years later.  Main career fields out here are truck driving, call centers(sales or support) and medical/nursing.  Still have jobs in all the other areas but some stuff may be harder to get because the places can afford to be picky.  I do enterprise IT and I'm having one hell of a time advancing lately, but I'm not in a bad spot because of it.  Just slim pickings in this field.

The general 'attitude' of folks down here is a lot better than up north, and the gun culture is far better.  Crime rate is far below Chicago area obviously, but it still exists.  I've been hearing about more shootings and stolen car reports than usual out of Springfield lately, and I'm noticing it more from the north side than anywhere else.  Got a buddy renting a house on the north side and he's always posting photos of standoffs and swat trucks in his neighborhood, and is desperately trying to get out of there.

There a few handfuls of us scattered around Springfield and the surrounding towns, but get-togethers are few and far between and I've not ever been to one though I have met a few arfcommers for transactions and etc.  I think it's mainly because we're not as densely grouped over here as they are around KC and STL.  If you don't mind driving out towards STL, or Versailles area where CMMG is, then you'll meet quite a few guys at those bigger events.  I haven't been active much on here over the last year or so, so I don't know how accurate this is anymore.  I'm sure we could whip up some events for the famous deej.  We've been needing a new arfcom celebrity since -Duke-Nukem- abandoned us(has anyone seen him lately?  Last post was about a year ago.)

As for entertainment, I'm honestly not really sure since I'm a car guy outside of work so my experience is with the car scene which is decent here for it being a rural area.  There's a drag strip in Rogersville that has all sorts of different events constantly, plenty of car clubs, some circle tracks within short road trip distance, car shows, big car/truck events, cruises, etc.  You've got Branson to visit but honestly to me it comes off as a gimmicky tourist trap run by shady city leaders that are terrible with money, though there is a lot of different stuff to do down there if you want to throw money at it.  Pawn/Gun shops everywhere, a few shooting ranges, not sure what the gun clubs are like though.  There's a hidden RC scene here that comes and goes if you're in to that hobby, some sort of RC event place/track out towards Joplin and a few groups of RC crawler folks in this area that I know of.

Either way, the move from IL to MO is definitely worth it.  I came down with my parents right after I turned 18 and hated it the first year or so, but once I grew up enough to appreciate the rights and freedoms I had here as opposed to IL...you couldn't pay me enough to move back to IL.  I sure do miss my vienna beef hotdogs and italian beefs, though.

Don't live in Springfield.  Spfd is turning into a crap hole.  Panhandlers stationed at nearly every major intersection, crime is on the rise, shootings, stabbings, property theft.  I would look into Nixa, Ozark, Republic or even Battlefield.  If you are from Chicago than a 20+ minute commute is nothing.

My wife and I bought a place near Stockton a few months ago. It would be about a 45 minute drive to commute to Springfield, but we looked at other nice places closer to there. There are several small towns within an easy commute. We don't plan to move 100% for a year or so, but the long weekends and a couple weeks we've spent there have been very enjoyable. It's a different world compared to the Chicago area. I can't wait to make the move.

@Deej86

Any updates? A guy I do a good bit of car business with just took over management of a 200 person call center selling vacations

I'd be shocked if I couldn't get you a job before you got to town

Deej is taking a 60 day timeout over some pit dispute, you'll have to email him.

I'm back.  My wife found a job locally here. Thanks everyone for the advice.

That's great news!